Over the past few decades, food production has come under pressure as the global population grows and consumption habits change. As more and more people focus on sustainability and ethics in food, traditional methods of producing animal-derived proteins are showing their limitations.
Against this backdrop, with the rapid development of biotechnology, alternative proteins have emerged, offering a new solution that will even change our eating habits while having a profound impact on our health and the future of the planet.
Protein-rich foods (source: AI-generated by the author)
Alternative protein, as the name suggests, is a food alternative to traditional animal protein. It comes from a variety of sources, including plants, insects, and lab-grown meat. These novel protein sources are designed to mimic the taste and nutrition of meat while reducing the burden on the environment. Learn how these innovative foods have come from laboratory development to our tables, and how they can potentially reshape our food perceptions and consumption behaviors.
Four alternative proteins
Plant-based meat has developed the most impressively
Of the four current alternative proteins, plant-based proteins have developed the most significantly. Compared to other categories that have not yet reached the market or have low audience acceptance, plant-based proteins are leading the way due to their mature production technology and broad market acceptance. The following is a classification of alternative proteins:
1. Plant-based protein
Plant-based protein is the most well-established alternative protein source, including legumes, cereals, potatoes and nuts, with up to 40% soy protein. Plant-based proteins are low production costs, have high safety, are easy to digest and absorb, and have little negative impact on the environment and animal welfare (presumably with minimal psychological burden on consumers), and have been widely used in the market.
Plant-based proteins are by far the best alternative protein due to their low overall cost, strong safety, easy digestion and low side effects on animal welfare and the environment. Plant-based proteins are not only the most promising alternative protein category due to their economic benefits and production efficiency advantages, but also because of their importance in environmental protection and sustainable development.
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2. Insect protein
Insects are a highly effective source of protein, including proteins extracted from eggs, larvae, adults, pupae, etc., at all stages of growth. Despite the fact that insects reproduce quickly and are highly nutritious, most mainstream consumers have reservations about eating insects and find it difficult to swallow. However, there are still some delicious insect proteins on our table, such as silkworm pupae, bee pupa, etc. Although insect protein has a reasonable nutritional structure, less meat fiber, and is easy to absorb, the large-scale production technology is not yet mature.
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3. Microbial proteins
Microbial proteins, especially those produced by precision fermentation techniques, are receiving a lot of attention. This technology relies on gene editing and biotechnology to create customized microorganisms to produce specific proteins and nutrients. For example, precision fermentation is used to produce casein, yeast proteins, and more, which can meet protein needs without relying on traditional animal sources. Microorganisms grow fast, produce efficiently, and come from a wide range of raw materials, but their consumer acceptance remains a challenge.
Concept diagram of protein produced by precision fermentation technology (Source: Author generated using AI)
4. Cellular proteins
A revolutionary way to produce food directly from cell culture technology. By cultivating and propagating animal cells in the laboratory, we can produce food products that are similar to traditional meat, without the need for a farming and slaughtering process. Imagine that we only need to grow and multiply muscle and fat cells to get the beef we need.
Through cellular farming, there is no need to raise the whole animal, it is enough to cultivate only the part we eat, for example, when we only want to eat steak, there is no need to bother to cultivate tissues or organs including bones, horns, hooves, etc. This approach not only reduces the consumption of natural resources, but also reduces the environmental impact.
What should I do if the substitute protein doesn't taste good?
Some friends said that it was not that the substitute proteins were bad, but that they tasted so bad! There have been attempts to challenge this question, and the results have been good.
There's a company called Impossible Foods that develops plant-based burgers. The company's founder, Pat Brown, a professor of biochemistry at Stanford University, assembled a team of leading scientists to recreate the entire sensory experience of meat, dairy and fish using plants.
During Pat's entrepreneurial journey, Dr. Brown realized that if people were to become less dependent on animal meat, it was not enough to simply provide alternatives with comparable nutritional value; The key is to replicate the taste and feel of the meat. He and his team discovered that heme is the key ingredient that gives meat its distinctive metallic and bloody taste. However, heme is mainly found in the muscles of animals, which is a challenge for developing completely plant-based meat alternatives.
Schematic diagram of heme (source: Wikipedia)
After research, the team found that a plant protein called soybean phylloxin, which contains heme similar to animal heme. However, the cost of extracting heme directly from soybeans is too high for commercial production. The solution is to genetically engineer the gene for soy heme into yeast and then produce this protein in large quantities through a fermentation process. This innovation not only gives their "beef" burger a flavor close to that of real beef, but also significantly reduces its environmental impact.
The launch of the burger using this technology not only generated great interest among consumers, but also sparked widespread discussion in the food industry and biotechnology, marking a major breakthrough in the field of alternative proteins. The success of this technology provides a good example of how complex global problems can be solved through innovation and interdisciplinary collaboration.
brief summary
The resource consumption and environmental pollution caused by the traditional livestock and poultry breeding industry, as well as the continuous growth of the global population and the higher health needs of human beings, have given birth to the motivation of people to tap new food resources, and promoted the innovation and development of alternative proteins such as plant protein, algae protein, insect protein, microbial protein, and cell culture protein.
Overall, while there are still many challenges to alternative proteins, it has great potential to become an important modality for food production in the future.
Planning and production
Author丨Denovo Popular Science Author
Audit丨Ruan Guangfeng, Deputy Director of Kexin Food and Health Information Exchange Center
Planning丨Ding Kun
Editor丨Ding Kun
Reviewer丨Xu Lai Linlin